When you are first starting out in internet marketing one of the hardest things to do can be deciding which niche market you are going to target.

I know when I was first starting out I went from having no idea what area I would be targeting to being bombarded by so many different niche markets my head was spinning at the prospect of picking just one or two.

With that in mind I am going to look at some of the various kinds of niche markets available to you as well as a few other things you will need to consider, with the intention of casting a little light on the subject and hopefully as a result make the whole process of choosing a niche market that bit easier for you.

1. Try traditional niche markets

The traditional niche markets break down into three main categories

• Health and Fitness

• Wealth Creation

• Lifestyle

Each of these markets has existed for far longer than the internet has and will always be in demand. In fact, these markets have existed since before the beginning of marketing itself.

For example, people are always looking to improve their health, this could be health in general or dealing with a health condition that they have to live with such as diabetes, high blood pressure, back pain, asthma or IBS to name but a few.

Maybe you are more interested in the fitness side of things, again the scope for this market is huge and very much in demand. People are always looking for ways to work out at home or shorten their time at the gym with different ways to get the maximum results in the shortest amount of time. A lot of these gym goers are looking at ways to put on weight or build muscle.

Which brings me nicely onto what is probably the biggest area under the health and fitness banner, this is weight loss. The global weight loss market is estimated to be worth £220 million with an estimated 29 million Brits attempting to lose weight last year alone and with obesity on the rise this market is only going to get bigger. With that in mind there’s always a marketplace out there that will be hungry for information in this area.

In the same way, people are always looking to make more money, maybe they have retired and want something to fill their time and top up their pension, or they could be looking for something to do as a hobby that can generate a little extra cash to supplement their wages. It could be, they have dreams of quitting the drudgery of the 9 to 5 and starting out on their own. As with health and fitness, wealth creation is a huge marketplace with numerous possibilities.

Similarly, lifestyle is an area that people want to improve constantly, this again covers a wide range of subjects, quitting smoking or drinking could also be covered by the health and fitness banner but tends to come under lifestyle as does improving sleep and stress management. You could also look at relaxation techniques and meditation as well as the very popular relationship niche. So as you can see a vast number of people will always be looking for solutions within this market.

In conclusion, the markets I’ve mentioned are a fantastic place to start if you’re thinking of going into internet marketing, or even if you’re already up and running and you want to explore a new niche then these are huge markets for you to tap into.

2. Solve peoples problems

Every single person who is in internet marketing brings a wealth of knowledge with them, and if you think that this is not true for you, then you are wrong. We all have things that we are passionate about, or are knowledgeable in, it could be a hobby that you have been doing for years or maybe you do a job in which you have gained knowledge that could be passed on to the less initiated – insider information, tricks of the trade etc. You can use what you know or love to help solve other peoples problems. Even if you don’t have all the answers, with access to the internet you have all the experts in your chosen topic at your finger tips – just Google it! And if you’re solving a problem, you’re helping someone. If you’re helping someone, then you can get paid for your time and effort.

Every single day people all over the world are looking for answers to problems they may have, in every single subject under the sun. Don’t believe me? try googling ‘how to get my bread to rise’ and you get over 5.6 million results, or try ‘How to improve my golf swing’ and over 1.25 million results are returned, or try something more obscure like ‘How to stop my dog barking’ and you get over 770,000 results. What I’m trying to say here is that regardless of what you are knowledgeable about there is someone out there looking for answers to problems in that particular area.

If you can provide a solution to the people who are looking for answers, in a way that they can easily access, then you can get paid for doing it.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to produce an e-book and with websites such as Amazon kindle direct publishing; https://kdp.amazon.com it’s now easier than ever to get your e-book out into the market place. If you add an audio or video version as well, then you will greatly improve your widespread appeal.

Do your research right and you can easily find the most common problems in your chosen niche. A very good way of finding what problems people need solving is to go direct to the market itself. One of the best places to look can be online forums dedicated to your chosen subject, you will find numerous people here looking for answers to an abundance of problems. Places like Yahoo Answers are also a great way of finding out what problems people are facing. If you want to you can always go and survey people in your chosen niche.

This is not only a great way to find out what problems people need solving, it’s also very valuable to you because the people are basically telling you what product they need. All you have to do is give it to them.

3. Do your research

Research within your chosen niche is vital. It’s important because it tells you what the market is thinking and more importantly what it wants. It also tells you if the demand is big enough to be worth your time and effort creating products that that particular market is asking for.

By going direct to the market you can discover what problems they face, what solutions they’ve tried, what has worked and what hasn’t worked, you’ll get a better insight into what people want and be better placed to provide a solution in a targeted way.

If you already have a list, that’s great, send them a brief email questionnaire, ask them what they want to learn about, what problems they have (short term and long term), what kind of information they need.

One great way to find a niche market is to use the Google Keyword Tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal You can see how many people are searching for a specific word or phrase, this is an invaluable tool to ascertain if there is a demand for the niche you are considering. If there are 10,000 searches per month or more and very little competition from advertisers, you may well have found yourself a niche that’s ready and waiting to be tapped into.

4. Keep looking

It’s important as an internet marketer to constantly be on the lookout for new ideas and continue to search for new niches and markets that you can potentially tap into, this will not only increase the number of income streams you have but will also ensure that you are not putting all your eggs into one basket should one niche area start to wane. Having said that, don’t give up on one niche just because you have had a successful product. If one product has worked, then the potential is there to sell more, keep going in that same niche until you have 4 or 5 good products all making you money.

Don’t forget to keep a constant relationship with your existing buyers, send out emails at least once a month, send them offers, upsells and other products that you think they may be interested in. Remember it is easier and cheaper to sell to someone who has already been a customer than to sell to a complete stranger.

You are surrounded by places where you can gain inspiration for new niche markets. Try going to the magazine section of your local shop, look at the various magazines on sale and the subjects they cover, chances are that If there’s a magazine for it, then it is likely to have enough potential buyers to be a worthwhile niche market.

As I mentioned earlier you can also find inspiration by playing around with the Google Ads Keyword Tool as well.

5. Go deeper

What I mean by this is quite simply finding more specific fields of interest within your chosen niche. For example, maybe your niche is the beauty market so then your more specific areas within this market could be hair, or nails, looking younger or even the make-up niche.

Taking the make-up niche as an example, you can narrow this down to things such as applying lipstick, foundations for different skin types, or applying eye make up.

Lets say you decide to create products about eye make-up, If you are somewhat of an expert on this subject then that’s great, turn what you know into an e-book or a step by step video tutorial. If you are not then don’t worry you could interview experts in this area and maybe record the interview and produce your product from this.

By going deeper and being more precise you could really get the most out of your chosen niche and because you’re being very specific you can open up a whole world of possibilities to build on. Remember people love to learn from experts and so that attention to detail will pay off.

It’s also a good idea to think laterally within your niche market and consider what other products or services people might be interested in. As I mentioned earlier, if people have already bought from you, then suggest other products you think they may be interested in or offer them an upsell of another higher priced product.

Finally, make sure that you take careful notes of what works and what doesn’t work, then maybe look at how you can use what works in the future and whether you can fix the things that do not work or if you need to discard them and try a different approach.